1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a reflecting device constructed by a combination of three reflecting layers and a method of fabricating the same.
2. Description of the Background Art
Conventionally, reflecting mirror devices having three plane mirrors arranged therein at right angles to one another have been known. Such reflecting mirror devices can reflect light incident from an arbitrary direction to a direction parallel to the incident direction, and are referred to as retroreflectors. The conventional retroreflectors are of large sizes in construction.
Meanwhile, micro-optical benches having a standing structure are realized by micromachining techniques using silicon. It has been reported that resonance microscanners for laser scanning displays, movable microreflectors, and scanning micromirrors for external resonators of semiconductor lasers, for example, are fabricated using the micromachining techniques.
In the conventional micromachining techniques, after parts of stacked semiconductor layers are stripped by etching, the stripped parts are slid to stand, and are joined at a hinge, thereby forming a standing structure. Mirrors or the like standing at predetermined angles are constructed on a substrate using the standing structure. It is considered that the above-mentioned retroreflectors are fabricated using such micromachining techniques.
When the standing structure is fabricated by semiconductors using the conventional micromachining techniques, wear occurs in sliding the stripped semiconductor layers. Further, it is difficult to accurately slide the semiconductor layers to a predetermined position. Therefore, it is difficult to accurately control the angle and the position of each of members constituting the standing structure, and the workability is inferior. Consequently, it is difficult to fabricate retroreflectors using the conventional micromachining techniques.